Answering Clinical Questions Improves Patient Safety

What

An Adjustment refers to the gentle and precise movement of a joint or joints in your body as performed by a Chiropractor. During an adjustment you will be placed in a comfortable position and movement will be induced into the problem joint. At the time of the adjustment you may hear a “popping” sound similar to someone “popping” their knuckles. The sound is produced as the joint is moved. A vacuum is produced in the joint and gas “pops” to the surface. The adjustment returns normal function to your joints which, in turn allows the body to begin the healing process. Think of it as knocking the rust off of your joints.

How

There is often significant reduction in symptoms immediately or shortly following the chiropractic adjustment. This is not always the case, however. Your response to chiropractic care depends on numerous factors including the amount of time you have had your symptoms, the cause of your symptoms, the number of symptoms, the number of biomechanical dysfunctions you have, the presence of arthritis, your weight, your activity or lack there of, your levels of stress, the amount of time you sit during the day, computer use, your level of participation in performing stretches or completing strengthening exercises as prescribed, or your history of past injury to name only a few. As you can see, many factors can affect your response to treatments.

The goal of chiropractic treatment is to restore movement and/or proper function to your body. Many times the underlying cause of your symptoms has been functioning improperly for a significant amount of time, most likely much longer than you’ve been experiencing pain. That being said, it is reasonable and probable that it will take a little time and some effort on your part to see a reduction or resolution of your symptoms. We will constantly evaluate your progress and will make necessary changes in our treatment protocols to ensure the shortest course of treatment to resolve your problem. Communication is key so ask as many questions as possible. We definitely value your input and feedback.

What

Only a small percentage of cases we see are related to trauma. Most people wake up with pain or are doing some normal activity when symptoms arise. It is not uncommon for someone to have their first real pain while getting out of bed, washing their hair, spitting out toothpaste, vacuuming the floor, or picking something up off of the floor like a piece of paper. We are constantly asked “why” this happened for no apparent reason. The answer to this question goes to the heart of why the commonly held view of “take this to get rid of the symptoms” is misguided. This misguided logic goes on to the conclusion that the lack of symptoms means that everything is O.K.

How, then, do you explain why someone wakes up or picks up a pen and gets symptoms out of the blue? The answer is simply that the body had lost normal function sometime prior to the onset of the symptom and finally could not adapt any longer. The result is a stronger message being sent, usually as pain. But, what was the event that caused loss of function prior to the onset? The answer to this question explains, in part, why we have become symptom chasers. We can all agree that the weight of the pen picked up from the floor was not the true cause of the symptom. The problem is that the true causal event may have been weeks, months, or years earlier. To complicate matters even further, there may have been more than one event coupled together to cause the eventual symptom. Identifying the true cause can sometimes be very difficult. Nonetheless, the ultimate underlying problem is a loss of normal function.